(The Center Square) – Wisconsin led the way to a $102 million settlement with the maker of Suboxone.
Attorney General Josh Kaul on Friday announced the agreement. Kaul and AGs from 41 other states accused the drug’s maker of trying to switch the medication from pills to patches, and then accused them of trying to ruin the market for pills.
“In 2016 the States filed a complaint against Indivior Inc. alleging that they used illegal means to switch the Suboxone market from tablets to film while attempting to destroy the market for tablets, in order to preserve its drug monopoly. Trial had been set for September 2023,” Kaul’s office said in a statement.
Suboxone is a drug used to treat opioid addiction.
Kaul said the seven-year wait in the case was not a deterrent.
“However long it takes, we will continue to hold companies accountable for alleged anticompetitive activities,” Kaul said.
In addition to paying the $102 million, Indivior is also required to disclosure to the states of all citizen petitions to the FDA, introduction of new products, or if there is a change in corporate control, which will help the states “ensure that Indivior refrains from engaging in the same kind of conduct alleged in the complaint.”
This is not the first case involving the makers of Suboxone.
In 2019, the Justice Department announced a $1.4 billion settlement with the RB Group over similar market manipulation.
Indivior was spun-off from the RB Group in 2014.
In addition to Wisconsin, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia joined in the latest settlement.
